29th May 2023 – (Shanghai) Shanghai recorded its hottest May day in 100 years today, breaking the previous high by a full degree, according to the city’s meteorological service. The temperature at Xujiahui station hit 36.1 degrees Celsius, shattering the 100-year-old record for the highest temperature in May. The temperature continued to climb throughout the afternoon, reaching 36.7 degrees Celsius later in the day. Scientists say global warming is exacerbating adverse weather, with many countries experiencing deadly heatwaves and temperatures hitting records across Southeast and South Asia in recent weeks.
The United Nations warned in May that it is near-certain that 2023 to 2027 will be the warmest five-year period ever recorded, as greenhouse gases and El Nino combine to send temperatures soaring. There is a two-thirds chance that at least one of the next five years will see global temperatures exceed the more ambitious target set out in the Paris accords on limiting climate change, the UN‘s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said. The 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries agree to cap global warming at “well below” two degrees Celsius above average levels measured between 1850 and 1900 – and 1.5 degrees Celsius if possible. The global mean temperature in 2022 was 1.15 degrees Celsius above the 1850 to 1900 average.